United States v. Paxton

Trial counsel’s sentencing argument provided the members with an erroneous portrayal of the evidence of record. Trial counsel compounded his misstatement of facts by making an argument that encouraged the members to draw adverse inferences from Appellant’s exercise of his right to plead not guilty and his right to remain silent. I respectfully dissent from the portion of the majority opinion that concludes that any error in trial counsel’s argument was not plain or obvious.

The errors occurred during trial counsel’s attempt to describe the evidence and responsibilities of the panel during…